Spain: the candidate songs are online

Posted 20 January 2010 at 17:39

As we mentioned some days ago, almost 500 songs were received by TVE, the Spanish broadcaster, to take part in their national selection Tu País Te Necesita, of which 313 were declared valid and published last Monday. Some of these have already been accused of breaking the rules of the competition so, as TVE stated, the number can still be reduced when this is confirmed.

The voting was opened at 12:00 on Monday the 18th of January, and the voters didn't wait: 283,348 votes were cast in the first day, which means an increase of 44% from last year's figures, though 24,000 of them were declared invalid.

The top 5 ranking after the first days of voting sees a runaway leader in Soy Un Tsunami by the controversial journalist Karmele Marchante, alias "Popstar Queen", a joke act who has generated massive media reactions, for and against her, just like Rodolfo Chikilicuatre did in 2008 when he became the Spanish entry. Coral Segovia is in second place, and she is precisely the runner-up of the Spanish selection 2008, when Rodolfo was chosen. The rest of the top 5 includes the band El Pezón Rojo (The Red Nipple) and two sets of Operación Triunfo ex-contestants: Samuel & Patricia and girl-band Venus.

The 10 songs leading the voting on the 5th of February will be the participants of the televised national final on a date yet to be announced.

The winner of the national selection of Spain in 2009 was Soraya Arnelas with La Noche Es Para Mi which was placed 23rd in the Final of Europe's Favourite TV Show.